Childbirth Classes
The Pros to Learning About Birth...Before it Happens
I have been living & breathing the world of birth for the last 23 years of my life so I am obviously pro birth class. I have attended birth preparation classes with my 1st & 2nd pregnancies, and I have been supporting other parents through education for decades. I believe everybody deserves quality information & support.
About half of all new parents don’t take birth classes. That is their choice, just like everything else surrounding their births belongs to them, but I want to discuss why it can be beneficial. It isn’t uncommon for me to have students in my class birthing a 2nd baby that just felt overwhelmed and unprepared because they didn’t do classes the first time around. It is never too late to learn about birth, and taking a refresher course between births is never a bad idea.
Wise Women
I love teaching about bellies, birth, babies & bodyfeeding! I do feel a little awkward at the realization that I only have a job because birth has been removed from daily life.
Historically, a group of wise women in your family and village would surround & support you during childbearing. A local midwife would attend you while your experienced family members supported you. You also very likely witnessed birth, loss, breastfeeding and childrearing in a very natural way throughout your life with close exposure. This was the crux of your education!
Life has changed, families are isolated, and birth has been sterilized and removed from the community and placed in the hospital. Instead of learning primarily from moms, aunts, sisters or midwives, we look to childbirth educators, lactation consultants and healthcare professionals to guide us.
Luckily, we can revillage to find our support systems. It might be online, through classes, listening to podcasts or hiring birth doulas, but we can still find the support needed to get educated and get ready.
Wise Partners
When birth moved out of the women’s sphere and into the family sphere, birth partners, primarily men but not always, became the main support system during the birth process.
Some people aren’t keen on the idea of witnessing the birth and some husbands/partners are ready to literally help their baby earthside! Wherever you are on that spectrum, all partners need to learn great information and skills to keep hormones flowing, protect the birth space, know what to expect in labor, have hands-on skills to support physically and other ideas to support emotionally. It is a big job!
Wise partners can always add in extra labor support in terms of family, friends (those wise women) or even hire professional labor support (doulas) to round out the team and support everyone in the family, including you.
Normalizing Birth
If you are pregnant and have very little knowledge of the actual birth process – what it looks like, sounds like & how it could unfold, you are not alone. Many new parents now have very little information about babies before having their own. Sadly, some of the only birth education we receive throughout life now is bad birth scenes in movies. (FYI: almost none of it is accurate)
Losing mucous from your vagina to alert you to an impending birth? Totally normal!
Not being able to walk or talk through contractions at some point? Totally normal!
Puking in labor? Totally normal!
Pooping while pushing? Totally normal?
I get why so many people don’t want to talk about those realities, but learning about them normalizes birth. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and afraid about what is happening to your body, you now know it is a normal part of the process. I also know many pregnant people that just don’t want to know about it, but it is more powerful to learn about your body and how to make choices for yourself in labor.
Refusing to learn about birth doesn’t make the process any easier – it usually just complicates it by making it feel scary.
If this is new territory, it makes complete sense to learn about it- go to classes, gather stories, move your body to embody birth, and soak up all of the information you can to have the most positive experience that you can.
Choose Wisely
There are so many great options to learn about birth, in-person and online. Consider what type of birth you want, and choose your birth prep wisely. There are many independent childbirth classes to choose from with a wide variety of focus: birth as a hero’s journey, learning hypnosis, meditative birth, active birth, spinning babies, calm birth, birthing bootcamps, Bare Birth Basics, so many!
I have taught in many different settings; private classes, birth centers, hospitals and independent programs so I can speak from experience, literally.
Some institutions will censor their educators. I have watched it happen repeatedly. Sometimes, some places only want certain information taught in order to make patients more compliant or make the system run more efficiently.
If you want uncensored birth education, find an independent teacher or program that can present unbiased information tailored to you and your birth wishes.
Birth is a huge life transformation. Make choices that can enhance the experience because you carry your births with you for the rest of your life. They impact us, they change us and I want it to feel good for you.
Happy Birthing!